Pro-Palestine supporters gather in Pretoria. Photo: Naadiya Adams

People across the globe have been up in arms in the wake of Palestine’s plight, Israel launched an offensive 10 days ago that has seen the worst devastation in seven years.

As airstrikes continued to hit Gaza and innocent lives continued to be lost, pressure from the international community mounted and a ceasefire was reached on Thursday evening with the help of an intervention by Egypt – Hamas has claimed victory.

The energy in Gaza and around the world on Friday is a jubilant one as they celebrate a triumph. The resistance has carved a new path for Palestinians, showing that even the world’s most powerful nations will fall short, and while a battle has been won, the war is not over.

“Today the Palestinians celebrated the ceasefire because they feel that the Palestinian resistance achieved a victory against the Israeli occupation,” said Middle East Monitor correspondent Motasem Dalloul.

Hamas’ Osama Hamdan says the resistance has forged a new equation and a new victory.

Gaza’s death toll by Thursday crossed 232, including 65 children and 38 women since the attacks began almost two weeks ago. Just over 12 people have died in Israel.

The bomb recent bomb attacks came on the backend of weeks of tension that arose when Palestinian families were forced out of a Palestinian neighbourhood in the occupied East Jerusalem writes Al Jazeera.

The situation hit breaking point when one of Islam’s holiest sites, Masjidul Aqsa was stormed by Israeli forces and left in ruins; many worshippers were injured in the assault.

Thousands of people around the world have marched in solidarity with the Palestinian people while thousands more continue to campaign on social media.

This past Saturday saw Israel target a refugee camp in Gaza where at least 10 Palestinians were killed.

Protests have since taken place in over 100 cities around the world, including New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria.

Pretoria

People have been coming out in numbers throughout South Africa over the last 10 days, and Pretoria is no different. This past week, on Nakba Day, hundreds of South Africans gather in Lynwood, Pretoria in support of Gaza, organized by the WITS Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Lynwood, Pretoria. Photo: Naadiya Adams

Many held flags and posters saying “Palestinian lives matter”, some even took to set an Israeli flag alight, cementing the firm stance South Africa has taken on Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse the region of Palestinians.

Lynwood, Pretoria. Photo: Naadiya Adams

On Friday morning, Durban Harbour was filled with Cosatu members who are rallying behind Gaza in protest.

Protesting the Zim Shanghai docking & offload at Dbn harbour #FreePalaestine #GazaUnderAttack #Cosatu pic.twitter.com/waz8CVvx60

— Radio Islam (@radioislam) May 21, 2021

Many have compared the situation in Palestine to an apartheid South Africa, Radio Islam spoke with William Shoki of the Wits PSC who says protests bring visibility to the cause.

“The state of Israel was created on an act of cleansing, and an act of genocide because Palestinians were evicted from their homes, they were expelled from their land. And they were instantaneously placed under Israeli occupation and denied civil and political liberties,” says Shoki.

Shoki says its not a sudden flare-up of tensions but rather a 73-year-old battle for freedom.

” A red line continues to be crossed, and we as South Africans have a strong responsibility to say, no more, not in our name and not on our watch.”

South Africa is just one of many countries that are standing up against Israel’s apartheid regime.

Qatar

In the country’s capital Doha, thousands gathered in solidarity with the Palestinian people, waving flags and posters detesting what they have described as genocide.

Iraq

Iraqi cities have been in full support of the Palestinian people; across the capital, Baghdad thousands of protestors gathered in solidarity. Protests also took place in Babylon, Dhi Qar, Diwanieh and Basra.

Canada

Canadians were out in full force this past Saturday in the capital, Toronto where authorities estimate the size of the crowd to have been anything between 2500 and 5000.

Palestinian flags flew high as demonstrators held up placards reading “We stand with Palestine,” “Free Palestine” in condemnation of Israel’s bombing of the beleaguered Gaza strip.

A pro-Israel counter-protest of some 100 people was also underway, but police were present and there was no report of violence between the two groups.

USA

Thousands of Americans took to the streets of Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and a number of other US cities on Saturday to place pressure on Government to stop Israel’s airstrikes over the Gaza Strip.

The full list of cities that have protested:

Al Aqabah, Algiers, Amman, Amsterdam, Ankara, Athens, Auckland, Baghdad, Basrah, Beirut, Benslimane, Berlin, Birmingham, Boston, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Brooklyn, Brussels, Calgary, Cape Town, Casablanca, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Cork, Daraa, Dearborn, Dhaka, Diwaniyah, Doha, Dublin, Dunedin, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Edmonton,  Frankfort, Galway, Glasgow, Hague, Halifax, Hamburg, Hamilton, Irbid, Istanbul, Jacksonville, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Kampala, Karachi, Kashmir, Kensington, Khartoum, Krakow, Kuwait, Leipzig, London, Canada, London, UK, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mahdia, Manchester, Manhattan, Marrakech, Melbourne, Michigan, Milan, Milwaukee, Mogadishu, Montreal, Nabatieh; Nairobi, Nelson, New York, Newcastle, Nicosia, Norwich, Ottawa, Oxford, Palmerston, Paris, Peshawar, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pristina, Buenos Aires, Quetta, Rabat, Raleigh, Rome, San Jose, Sanaa, Saskatoon, Srinagar, Sao Paulo, Sydney, St. John’s, Stuttgart; Tehran, Tokyo, Toronto, Trablus, Tripoli, Tunis, Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw, Waterloo, Washington, Wellington, Whanganui.

– Naadiya Adams